but the obama administration has held back from sending weapons, citing the influx of foreign extremists into rebel ranks. the president could confront questions about that policy when he visits the middle east next week, with stops in israel, the west bank and jordan. >> time is of the essence here. >> brown: frederic hof, formerly the president's special advisor for transition in syria, is now at the atlantic council, a washington think tank. >> it is probably time for the united states and its allies to engage directly in strong relationships with these armed rebels, the ones we've been able to vet, the ones who share our basic values. some of those relationships may involve arming. >> brown: the u.s. and others also face the challenge of helping more than a million syrians who have fled to surrounding lebanon, turkey, jordan and iraq. even more are displaced inside syria. today, in beirut, lebanon, the u.n.'s high commissioner on refugees warned, again, of ripple effects. >> the syrian conflict is more than a humanitarian tragedy, the syrian conflict became a meaningful threat to reg